In our busy advertising agency, getting in the zone can be difficult. Between phone calls with clients resolving everything from a website design change to a copywriting revision and internal meetings to ensure that the whole team is on the same page as we proceed with a project, it can be a challenge to maintain focus on specific task and see it through to completion.  

For me to get in the zone, I think about a project on my tasklist prior to initiating my responsibilities, set up all of the resources I need to use, and plug my headphones in to listen to a certain type of music - without too many words and with a good, steady beat. So, as I write this blog and think about what project I will work on next, I’m thinking about what music might be a good fit. For the scriptwriting I need to do for an occupational therapy company, I’m thinking reggae and for the content plan of a website integrated with search engine optimization for a U.S. and international systems operations company, I’m thinking jazz. Swing by my office and you might actually see a dancing copywriter in action.

I was going through some old cd backups yesterday and found some old versions of my website from 2004-2006. I cringe when I think of the fact I used to code a html page for every picture I put on my website and link to each of these pages with a javascript pop-up: the shame! It used to take hours as well. Image maps, tables and frames… oh the horror!

2004:

In 2006 my website coding had improved in the sense that I validated code and tried to write it to look the same in as many browsers as possible. I had stopped using tables and frames for layout as well. I hate tables.

2006

Now I try to make websites as simple and clean as possible, validate to W3C standards and easy to update as I want to spend as little time having to do this so I can paint more.

I’m still using pop-ups in my latest website design though in the form of a light view script, which I will be getting rid of in the next inevitable layout change later this year.

I want to make images viewable on the same page without pop-ups because its even starting to bug me now after using similar methods for two years to date.

I also find that when you start to add more sections to a website it can get a bit messy if you don’t plan for them in the first place.

I also found my first Sim Attire website with all the skins I made for the game. I had almost forgotten about this strange obsession I had with making clothes for Maxis’s “The Sims”. I took down the site years ago simply because I got really bored with the game and making skins for it. I also wanted to spend more time on digital art.

Here are a few pictures of some of the better skins I made (warning they are not very good).

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

Lara Croft Tomb Raider

Jane the Elf

Dark Crystal

Dungeon Keeper Dark Mistress

Prince of Persia (obviously I stopped playing the Sims after I played this game, one of the best games I have played apart from the Legacy of Kain series.)

These were based on Earthworm Jim. My sister has made one of, if not the biggest Earthworm Jim fan sites EVER….at Rocketworm.com. I am still working on bringing her away from her obsession so she can work on other things but it is difficult for her to let go.

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